The Economist’s Intelligent Life Magazine Launches on the iPad

The Economist announced today that it will launch an iPad edition of Intelligent Life, its acclaimed quarterly magazine covering life, culture and style. Intelligent Life is already on the news-stand in Britain, Europe and Canada, but has only been available by subscription in the U.S. until now.

Intelligent Life is being launched in the US exclusively on the iPad – which the publishers claim is a first and which is yet another sign of the impact the iPad is having on the publishing industry.

The app is free to download and currently has a free ‘sampler issue’ as well as a first full issue for free, sponsored by Credit Suisse.

Here’s a little more detail on Intelligent Life’s content and focus:

Launched in 2007, Intelligent Life mixes contributions by Economist writers with specially commissioned pieces from leading authors such as Julian Barnes, Carlos Fuentes and Douglas Coupland. While the magazine shares The Economist’s fondness for crisp prose, dry wit and free thinking, it moves away from politics and economics to explore areas such as food, wine, books, music, fashion, museums, travel and philosophy.

“Intelligent Life has always been recognized for its photography and illustrations, which match the elegance of the writing itself,” said Des McSweeney, publisher of Intelligent Life. “Our team has made sure that the app gives readers a design as intuitive as the iPad itself, with every page specially adapted for both landscape and portrait formats.”

I’ve downloaded the app and I’m very keen to give it a look – but so far I cannot get it to download either the sampler or full issues. With both, it appears to begin a download and gets to what looks like less than 10% on its small status bar and just freezes. It has also crashed back to the home screen once when trying to download content.

I’m not sure if this is an iOS 4.2 beta problem or just that their servers are being hammered on Day 1 of launching, or something else.

I’ll keep trying and share thoughts if I get a chance to look at the app properly.

You can find Intelligent Life in the App Store now, and it is a free app for now. If you’ve had a chance to give it a look, please share your thoughts with us in the comments.